Oceanport

Ay Caramba on Sunday earned his third straight win (Bill Denver/Equi-Photo)

Patricia Bozano’s AY CARAMBA (Brz) (Roi Normand) earned his first U.S. stakes
win on Sunday when annexing the $150,000
Oceanport S. (G3) at Monmouth Park in a
thrilling finish. The five-year-old bay rated in midpack through the majority of
the 1 1/16-mile firm turf event before unleashing a determined rally in the lane
to catch the front-running Hotstufanthensome (Awesome Again) at the wire by
three parts of a length.

With Gary Stevens in the irons, Ay Caramba sat off a heated pace duel as
Spruce Run (Repriced) got the opening quarter in :24 4/5 with Hotstufanthensome
a head back in second. The Todd Pletcher-trained Cottage (Arg) (Ibero [Arg])
briefly stuck his head in front through a half in :49 1/5, but the seven-year-old
had done too much and began to fade as Hotstufanthensome took over through six
furlongs with Ay Caramba breathing down his neck. The eventual winner was second
by a length after a mile in 1:36 3/5, but Stevens asked his mount for more and
the horse kicked clear under a confident hand ride in the final sixteenth,
stopping the clock in 1:42 2/5.

Ay Caramba returned $10.20, $4.80 and $3.60 as the 4-1 third choice, starting
the $58.20 exacta and $562.20 trifecta. Hotstufanthensome gave back $5.20 and
$3.80 for the place while the strong-finishing Stormy Roman (Future Storm) was
worth $6.20 for the show. They were followed under the line by G P Fleet
(Northern Afleet), Everything to Gain (Sky Classic), Cottage, Tam’s Terms
(Private Terms), Stormy Ray (Storm Creek) and Spruce Run.